05 February 2022

COVID-19 update 5 February 2022

WA Health is reporting 25 new local cases and one travel related case to 8pm last night.

Of the 25 new local cases, 21 are linked to close contacts and four are under investigation.

Some of the new local cases were infectious in the community. Contact tracers are working to determine potential public exposure sites which will be uploaded to the HealthyWA website when confirmed.

All new cases are now in quarantine.

Today’s figures bring the State’s total number of active COVID-19 cases to 204. Of these, 11 are in hotel quarantine, 193 are in self-quarantine.

WA has recorded 1,666 cases since the COVID-19 pandemic began, with 1448 recovering from the virus.

Exposure sites

WA Health’s contact tracing team continues to identify exposure sites linked to new cases. Please continue to regularly check the HealthyWA website for updated or new exposure sites.

WA Health does not list exposure sites where it has identified all potential contacts or locations that can identify individuals who were there. People with symptoms should get tested immediately.

People who receive a text message from WA Health advising they have attended an exposure site must follow the instructions, even if the site is not listed on HealthyWA.

Testing advice

Anyone in the Perth, Peel, Wheatbelt and the South West regions – particularly the greater Bunbury area – experiencing any symptoms should get tested immediately and isolate until they receive a negative result. This applies to anyone symptomatic – even if you have not visited a listed exposure site.

A full list of testing clinics and opening hours is available on HealthyWA website.

Testing figures

7684 people were swabbed at WA clinics yesterday.

Vessels

WA Health is monitoring the condition of crew onboard the MV Ballard, a tanker vessel off the South West coast.

Authorities are in regular contact with the tanker, which is to be anchored off Bunbury until it is given approval to dock and offload.

SafeWA

Yesterday, 2,293,490 scans were recorded on the SafeWA app. It is important for everyone to check in using SafeWA or the ServiceWA app as this will help authorities contact those who may be at risk quickly and effectively.

Border controls

Information about Western Australia’s controlled border arrangements, conditions of entry and quarantine is available online.

COVID-19 vaccinations

WA Health will provide a weekend total for vaccinations administered on Monday.

A third dose “vaccination blitz” will take place over two weeks from Monday, February 7. During this time an extra 40,000 appointments are available at State-run clinics.

This will boost weekly capacity of State-run clinics to around 100,000 doses.

Demand for vaccinations and third doses is increasing. To spread the demand across clinic operating hours and to avoid excessive wait times, people are encouraged to make a booking via Vaccinate WA.

Based on the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) recommendations, Western Australians 16 years and older are eligible for their COVID-19 booster vaccination, three months following their second dose.

Vaccination is the best defence against serious illness or death relating to COVID-19 and we encourage everyone that is eligible for their third dose not to delay and to book an appointment on VaccinateWA.

Vaccinations are also available at GPs, pharmacies and community clinics.

For the latest WA vaccination figures, visit the COVID-19 Coronavirus: Vaccination dashboard (external site)**. For the latest Commonwealth data visit the Vaccination Numbers and Statistics website.

Children’s vaccinations

Parents are encouraged to book their children in for a vaccination as soon as possible via VaccinateWA.

Mandatory vaccination information

mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for most occupations and workforces in WA is being introduced in a phased approach. For more information on getting your COVID-19 vaccine, visit: https://rollup.wa.gov.au/.

Variants

To date, 523 cases of variant strains have been detected in Western Australia – including 316 Omicron strain, 53 Alpha strain, 15 Beta strain, one Gamma strain and 138 Delta strain.

Visit WA Health’s HealthyWA website for the latest information on COVID-19.

**A vaccine dashboard data interpretation guide (external site) is also available to help you.